Magecraft and Magic

Shiro was genuinely shocked this time. In the Type-Moon world, Magic and Magecraft were things on entirely different levels.

The difference between Magecraft and Magic was this:

Anything that existing humanity could achieve through wisdom, time, and so on was called Magecraft. Magecraft merely used Mana to accelerate something humans could accomplish, making it a shortcut to that result. In other words, anything Magecraft could do could also be done by technology; the only difference was time. Magic, on the other hand, referred to things beyond human capability. Put more simply, Magic itself was a miracle!

Pure Magic was naturally stronger than Magecraft. In Type-Moon's setting, Magic possessed the greatest Mystery, and thus it was also the Mana application method that retained the most power.

Within Type-Moon, Mystery was directly tied to the power of Magecraft. If too many people knew the same Magecraft, then under equal Mana conditions, its power would weaken. This was related to the foundation of all things in the Type-Moon world—the Root of Origin, which was also the source of all Magecraft and Magic.

Likewise, as technology developed, Magecraft gradually weakened. It was as though every Magecraft had a fixed source of power: the more that source was divided, the less power each share received. Once everyone could accomplish it, that Magecraft would disappear automatically.

Magic, meanwhile, was something humans could not reach. It possessed the highest Mystery and therefore retained the greatest power.

As technology advanced, only five Magics gradually remained. Of those currently known, the Second Magic mastered by Zelretch involved interference with Parallel Worlds, allowing its user to use the techniques and power of various Parallel Worlds! The Third Magic was Materialization of the Soul; Heroic Spirits appeared in the present world through the Third Magic. The specific effect of the Fifth Magic was unknown. At present, it was only known that Aoko Aozaki, the Fifth Magician, could produce the power of a rocket launcher with a single ordinary elbow strike. She was so powerful that she could fight Dead Apostles or Counter Guardians hand-to-hand. EMIYA himself was a Counter Guardian.

The true nature of the First Magic and Fourth Magic was currently unknown.

Thus, it was easy to imagine how shocked Shiro was when he learned that he might have a chance to become a Magician.

"Yes. The host's Origin has a path that can touch upon Magic!"

"Is it the First Magic or the Fourth Magic?"

"Insufficient data during data retrieval!"

"Then what do I need to do to possibly train in Magic?"

"The host must first train Projection Magecraft to its limit."

"And then?" Seeing the system fall silent, Shiro could not help asking.

"Insufficient data."

"..."

Well then. The flame of hope Shiro had just kindled for this lousy system was extinguished in an instant.

He knew he should not have expected anything from this lousy system. He had thought that a system capable of knowing the path to training in Magic had to be amazing, even if it had been blown to pieces. Yet after all that anticipation, all he learned was that it was related to his Origin and Projection Magecraft. And even then, it was only a possibility.

Forget it. Magic was not something Shiro could reach right now. What mattered most was increasing his strength. With that in mind, Shiro began asking the system about what concerned him most.

"System, how much energy is left now?"

"There is currently 9% energy remaining."

"9%? How much energy would it take to enhance the other three attributes to C++?"

"Enhancing the other three attributes to C++ requires 113.5%."

"How much?!" Shiro asked the system in disbelief.

"113.5%!"

"Why does it take so much? When I enhanced Mana to C++, even with the consumption doubling at C-rank, it only used 11%!"

"Host, please note that enhancing Mana consumed repair progress, rather than pure energy."

"What is the difference?" Though Shiro already had a faint guess by this point, he still wanted to struggle a little. He knew there was no such thing as a free lunch, but not having to work hard really did feel great.

"The system's repair requires not only energy, but also Rule Crystals. Rule Crystals can be extracted from all things in the world. However, the system currently possesses only the function to extract them from energy, so the consumption is extremely high."

Hearing that confirmed Shiro's guess. The system's level was still incredibly high, after all. Shiro had always wondered why the system could recover merely by absorbing energy, and now he finally understood part of the reason. At the same time, another question occurred to him. "Then can the function that refines those energy crystals be repaired?"

"The function for extracting matter has been completely destroyed and cannot be repaired."

"..." Shiro felt that his system was getting more and more low-grade. When other system-bearing transmigrators were his age, they were already beating Kaguya Otsutsuki senseless. Yet he was not even a Chunin.

"Forget it. Be content with what I have. At least I still have a system. System, how much energy does it take to enhance something to D-rank?"

"3%."

"Enhance both Strength and Endurance to D++!" Shiro made his decision after only a moment's thought. After all, this merely raised his upper limit, so it would not produce much improvement in the short term.

"Enhancement begins!"

Then, along with the system prompt, Shiro... felt nothing at all. This enhancement was a gradual process. Even if he enhanced something to A-rank, it only meant that he could reach A-rank through arduous training; it did not mean he could do nothing every day and still become A-rank. Shiro remarked that such systems belonged to other people.

Of course, the energy was deducted immediately. In other words, the enhancement process could not be interrupted.

Thus, after giving the enhancement command, Shiro went straight to sleep. The system had dropped several bombs on him in succession that night, leaving him mentally exhausted, so he simply paused his training for the night.

The next day.

"Morning, Chosuke, Seiyu. Where's Teacher Yamada?"

Thanks to his years of ninja life, Shiro had finally kicked his habit of sleeping in. Even so, by the time he came downstairs, Chosuke and Seiyu were already waiting in the inn's dining hall. Yamada was nowhere to be seen, though Shiro did not think Yamada was still asleep. He was a Chunin, after all.

"Teacher Yamada went to buy food."

"Buy food? Isn't there a restaurant here?"

"Teacher Yamada said he was going to buy us something tasty. He's been here before," Chosuke said from the side.

"Good thing I didn't order first." Shiro sat down as he spoke, then asked curiously,

"Do you have any plans for today? Decided what you want to do?"

At that, Seiyu's face lit up with excitement.

"Of course we have! We thought about it for ages last night! Do you want to come with us?"

Hearing that, Chosuke immediately looked nervously at Shiro, his face pleading. Seeing that expression, Shiro lamented the early maturity of children in the Shinobi World while deliberately putting on an interested expression. At that moment, he clearly sensed Seiyu becoming nervous too.

"Forget it. I need to buy something, so I won't disturb you two." Once Shiro realized Seiyu had only been polite, he lost the mood to tease them.

"Alright, what a shame. I was thinking we could have some fun together." Though she said that, Shiro could clearly sense Seiyu seeming to let out a sigh of relief.

Shiro immediately felt even worse.

So he decided to make them uncomfortable too!

"Really? Actually, we could go together. It wouldn't delay me much."

"No, no, Shiro, you should handle your own business. Don't let us delay you!" Seiyu hurriedly said.

"Yeah, your business is more important. Don't let it hold you up," Chosuke quickly echoed, seeing their time alone about to be ruined.

Watching them panic, Shiro instantly felt much better. He then casually added,

"It's fine. It's just a small gift. It won't get in the way."

"It'll get in our way!" Of course, they only dared think that. They did not dare say it aloud, since they could not beat Shiro.

"No, no, how could a gift for a friend..." Halfway through, Chosuke and Seiyu saw the smile Shiro could no longer suppress. They immediately realized he had been messing with them. If they could beat him, they would have already charged him.

"What are you talking about? It's so lively in here." Yamada returned carrying food just then. Seeing Chosuke and Seiyu sitting there sulkily, he immediately understood what had happened. "Shiro, you bullied them again, didn't you?"

"When did I? Teacher, heaven knows, they were the ones bullying me, alright? I'm practically stuffed full of dog food!" Shiro pretended to be aggrieved as he spoke to Yamada. Acting cute was no big deal. In truth, Shiro had initially refused, and firmly declared that he would never act cute in his life. Then he proved through his actions just how terrifying Wang Jingze was—the law of "so good" applied to every world, even across dimensions.

Venerable Jingze was terrifying indeed!

Shiro also believed that integrity was just that sort of thing: once it fell, do not even think about picking it back up. Even if you did pick it up, it would fall again, and it would fall even faster.

Thus, Shiro now had no pressure at all when acting cute. But how could Yamada believe his nonsense? After more than a year together, he had long understood what kind of person this brat was.

"Give me a break. You think I don't know you? Alright, stop sulking, all of you. Come eat something. Once we're done, you're dismissed and can arrange your own activities."

"Mm." X3

"By the way, what are your plans?"

"I'm going to buy something. Those two are going off for their little world of two. Heh, ptui! Heretics!" Shiro said with a look of disgust.

"Tch, you really are mature early." After sighing, Yamada asked Shiro,

"What about you? When are you planning to find someone?"

"No rush. It's still early." Shiro answered with such practiced ease that it was painful to hear. Clearly, he had been urged about this plenty in his previous life.

Suddenly, Shiro thought of something. People in this world matured so early, and he was not perverted enough. Was he going to end up single again?

But Shiro truly could not do it. Though men being a little perverted was supposedly no big deal, whenever Shiro thought of that complete set of laws, his heart became as pure as Buddha's.

"That's true. Right now, you should focus on training. By the way, what are you buying? Want me to go with you?"

"No need. It's just a small gift, so there's no need to trouble you, Teacher."

"Sometimes I feel like you're far too mature. Children should be happily playing." Yamada was only asking casually, because he knew that although this brat usually acted carefree, he carried many things in his heart. Otherwise, he would not train so diligently. Thinking that, Yamada sighed. Though he was Shiro's teacher, there was almost nothing left he could teach him.

If the one teaching him were a Jonin, he might already be stronger than me. Thinking that, Yamada sighed once more.

"Teacher, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Hurry up and eat," Yamada told the three children looking at him in confusion.

As for the Magic mentioned in this chapter, it will not be revealed until much later. The Magic I have in mind is also a fan interpretation I saw online, and I'm afraid of getting proven wrong... so it will only be revealed later.